


A Walk Through The End Of The World

by panicnhysteria



Category: Original Work
Genre: End of the World, Gen, Reflection
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-01
Updated: 2017-04-01
Packaged: 2018-10-13 11:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10512528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panicnhysteria/pseuds/panicnhysteria
Summary: Writing Prompt: The last human being alive writes a message to someone who may one day read it. It is a foretelling of the end of the human race who has pillaged the resources of and desolated the Earth.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a little reflection, even moreso than a story. It is my absolute favorite piece of writing as an author. I hope you like it as much as I do.

 

_Hello._

_If anyone is reading this, it means there is hope for us. Or maybe you're looking for something to eat and nothing has changed yet. Hello, anyway._

_I'm risking my hope and my sanity by writing this. Just the thought of writing something that will never be read is terrifying. To think that my words and my ideas are now wandering off to nowhere, wasting and waiting to simply disappear. But I'd like to think someone will read this someday. After all, they said everyone would be dead by now._

_It is now, and I'm still breathing._  

_Sometimes I think it would be easier to just make the moment come. The day I will die. It feels like my death is soon approaching. Why can’t I just speed the process?_

_It’s simple. I’m a curious man. And I did warn them. We destroyed this world and I want to see as much of it as I can before it ends._

_Let me tell you, stranger, that every miserable inch of non-existent land used to be a happy place. There were trees and there were animals. You could swim in the sea and in the river. We even had these ridiculous pools with water full of chlorine waiting for us to dive in._

_There were things that we always took for sure –things like water, food, peace, and a roof to sleep under- even if we were aware of the need to preserve it. Yes, let’s keep filling pools. I’m sure no one will need this water._

_Wrong._

_At our best, when we thought we could make anything happen, we were stupid enough to think we could prevent any sort of threat to life on Earth in time. Every doctor, every kingdom and every government was looking out for any glimpse of danger. It was almost like they wanted something to happen. We used resources and we did researches. We wasted our land while trying to save it._

_We didn’t realize we were our own biggest threat. Not all of us._

_I did. Some people did. People with enough brain working to see how bad things were going. We could see the pollution, the killings, the wars and the corruption. They called us crazy. They called us imaginative._ _They called us delusional. They never believed us._

_And at the end we were right._

_Somewhere in the way, our race to survival and our love for nature became a race to live with luxuries before the world ended, only using nature as a transaction and not as our main priority._

_Somewhere in the way, we gave up. We decided it was too late to change anything. There was too much damage, too much danger, too many problems and so little time to fix it._

_The heat increased, as did the fights. When our leaders betrayed us, when they stopped pretending to help, the massacre started. We, desperate and hungry for life, started our own destruction to last a few more days, a few more months, or a few more years._

_As it was expected, only rational people and the rich people managed to live the most. Rich people counted with enough money and saved resources to survive comfortably. Rational people could count on keeping calm even when they hadn’t eaten for days. Then they could stop for a minute and think what to do next._

_It was a long and excruciating selection. The best ones would survive, they’d feel hope, only to be crumbled to pieces when they realized the truth._

_This wasn’t a crisis anymore. This was life now. There wasn’t a “going back to normal.” There wasn’t a recovery. There was coping and there was giving up. You could choose any path. Considering you were alive to note this._

_And that, my friend, is how we came to this. That is why you are stumbling between dirt and a permanent cloud of black smoke over you. I suppose you could blame us, but we already paid the price for our mistakes._

_Yesterday I took a walk. I saw everything you’re probably seeing right now. I was remembering history like I’m writing you right now. I was crying and regretting everything that we did like it all was my fault._ _And, in a way, it was. As an individual, I could have done more to avoid this. Technically, I would have added five more minutes to the human race’s life. Not too much when you have your whole life spreading in front of you. More than enough when you’ve reached the end and you’re afraid to get closer to the line._

_Now, think if five people thought just like me. Twenty five minutes. Maybe a hundred people… five hundred minutes._

_Now, imagine… how much time would we have left if billions of people decided to do more to avoid this._

_Maybe it is wishful thinking. There wasn’t a moment in history when the human race agreed on anything._

_I sincerely hope someone is reading this. I’m desperately hoping there is someone still living out there. I don’t care who you are. Hell, I don’t care what you are! You just need to know that I hope now you care._

_Whatever you have, save it like the world is going to end tomorrow. Save it right now because the world is ending. It won’t be over in a day or two. It won’t be over in ten years. You will die and world will still be ending. The world has always been ending. It’s a damn huge world and that’s why we were given so much time._

_So enjoy it, stranger. If you’re greeting death as you waste your last minutes reading this, at least die with a smile on your face. I hope you have fought with everything you have. I know I did. I know I tried. And now I can go._


End file.
